Fever
by SyneFurrier
Summary: Dan finds Phil delirious and hallucinating. Dan wasn't aware he had a protective instinct. Not until now anyway.


"Phil?" Dan called from the other side of Phil's door. There wasn't any answer. Dan couldn't believe that he had actually woken up before Phil.

"Phil?" Dan called a bit louder. He knocked on the door. How late was he up last night? Dan carefully let himself in. Phil was twisted up in his sheets, sweating heavily and cringing. Dan rushed to his side, kneeling at the side of his bed.

"Phil? Phil! Wake up," Dan said, pushing at his shoulder. Phil jolted, yelping a bit in surprise. He groaned, kicking at the blankets, trying to get them off. He was too wrapped up in them to do anything but tangle them further. Dan carefully pulled them off and let them sit, crumpled next to him. Phil carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Dan?" Phil mumbled.

"Are you okay?" Dan asked, worriedly. He handed him his glasses. Phil shook his head but quickly stopped, covering his mouth. The feeling passed and he relaxed back into the pillows.

"What doesn't feel good?"

"Everything," Phil moaned, holding his head.

"I'm going to get you something for that. I'll be right back," Dan said. When Phil didn't reply, Dan touched his shoulder. Phil jumped and looked up at him.

"Okay?" Dan asked.

"What?"

"Tylenol?"

"What about it?" Phil asked. Dan sighed.

"I'll be right back," he said, running into the other room. He came back with Tylenol and a glass of water. Phil's head was resting on his shoulder.

"Phil?" Phil blinked open his eyes.

"What?"

"Did you really fall asleep that fast?" Dan asked. He wasn't sure if he was amused or deeply worried.

"Yeah." Phil reached for the pills and the water, his eyes already drooping shut.

"Can we go out on the couch? It's too warm in here," Phil said, handing back the glass. Dan nodded, slowly helping Phil to his feet. They inched into the living room, Dan supporting nearly all of Phil's weight. Dan helped Phil onto the couch, making sure he was comfortable. He sat next to him, watching him cautiously. Phil coughed violently then layed down, resting his head on Dan's lap. Within seconds, Dan could hear Phil's soft snores. Dan ran his fingers through Phil's hair, twisting it around his fingers. Phil sighed softly in his sleep. Dan paused, watching him for a moment before continuing. He wasn't sure why he did. Phil wouldn't mind and even if he would, he was too delirious to notice. Dan leaned his head back, shutting his eyes. He fell asleep, his hand still in Phil's hair. Dan woke sometime later to Phil whimpering. Dan rubbed his back, hoping that it would help. He didn't want to wake Phil. The more sleep he could get, the better. Dan had only ever been this sick once before. He had been nine years old. He was delirious and hallucinating. All he could do was sleep but the sickness caused forced evil things to haunt his dreams. Phil sighed and relaxed back into him. Dan kept rubbing at his back, hoping it would keep the demons away. Dan wasn't bored per say but he was anxious and didn't know what to do until Phil woke up again. He tried to see how high he could count. He got to one hundred thirty-seven before forgetting where he was. He tried counting in Spanish. Dan didn't know enough numbers in Spanish to amuse himself for long. Dan was about to try counting in German when Phil rolled over and mumbled something. Dan froze, listening carefully.

"Dan," Phil mumbled. Dan blinked. Phil was dreaming about him?

"Dan," Phil said again. His voice was much clearer this time. Dan looked down in surprise.

"Yeah?" he asked. Phil had woken, calling for Dan. Dan felt stupid. He wasn't dreaming about him.

"What time is it?" Phil pushed him up so he could sit next to Dan. Dan looked at the clock.

"Six o'clock."

"Morning or night?" Phil asked, shutting his eyes and laying his head on Dan's shoulder.

"Night," Dan answered.

"What day is it?" Dan looked at him worriedly.

"Tuesday." Phil sat up.

"It's been a week already?" he asked.

"What?"

"It's been a week," Phil repeated.

"Phil, it's been a few hours," Dan said.

"What?" Phil looked shocked. Dan could only look at him. Phil shrugged, leaning back into him. He turned the TV on though he kept the volume off. Dan was hoping that Phil was starting to feel a bit better but he knew, deep down, that he was wrong. The first clue was when Phil stopped looking at the TV and started watching the wall.

"What's that?" he whispered, pointing at the wall.

"What's what?" Dan asked.

"Those blue things. What are they?" Phil asked. He sounded a bit excited.

"Phil, there's nothing there," Dan said softly. Phil looked at him.

"What do you mean? They're right there!"

"Phil," Dan said.

"Are you blind?" Phil asked. Dan pressed the back of his hand to Phil's forehead. He was burning up.

"How about you take a cold bath?" Dan asked.

"Why?"

"Might make you feel better," Dan said. Phil agreed and they carefully went into the bathroom. While Dan got the bath running, Phil sat on the floor, staring at his hand.

"You alright?" Dan asked.

"Yeah why?" Phil said, not looking away from his hand.

"Just curious," Dan muttered. Once the bath was full, Dan realized that Phil wasn't exactly in a place to undress himself. He groaned.

"What?" Phil asked. He was tapping his fingers on his forearms.

"Nothing." Dan helped him stand and started pulling his shirt off. Phil swayed dangerously and Dan grabbed him. Next went Phil's pants. At least they were pajama pants and not skinny jeans. Phil held onto Dan's shoulders as he stepped on the toe of his socks, slipping his feet out. Dan sighed. Could he do this? Naked Phil was something he could live without. Dan took a deep breath and helped Phil out of his underwear. Dan watched the ceiling, refusing to look down. He helped Phil into the bath, making sure he was comfortable before sitting on the floor next to him. He didn't go through that just the let Phil drown in the bathtub. He flicked some water at Dan. He smiled. Maybe Phil was feeling better. Dan continued to think that until to Phil let out a yelp.

"What?" Dan asked, panicking.

"Get them off!" Phil shouted, scratching roughly at his arm. Dan grabbed his hand.

"Stop Phil! It's okay. There's nothing there." Dan washed the blood off of Phil's arm. Phil was squirming, trying to get out of his grasp.

"Get them off Dan," Phil said, tears running down his face. Dan nearly let go of Phil's hand, just to stop him from crying. Nothing was worse than that. Dan helped Phil out of the bath, wrapping him in a towel and guiding him back to his room. Phil flopped onto his bed, still naked. He pulled a blanket over him and looked up at Dan.

"You don't want to get dressed?" Dan asked.

"It's still warm in here," Phil supplied as an answer. Dan was actually cold. Phil looked down at his arm. It was still bleeding a bit.

"Why am I bleeding?" he asked, his voice rising.

"You fell," Dan lied. It was that or, ' You were hallucinating so bad that you thought there was who knows what on your arm so you tried to violently scratch it off'.

"Oh," Phil mumbled, poking at his arm.

"Leave it alone. I'll be right back. I need to wrap that up," Dan said. He rushed into the bathroom as fast as he could, praying that Phil didn't hurt himself in the seconds he was gone. Dan returned with a first aid kit. Phil was sitting there, watching him. Dan sighed in relief. He sat next to Phil and pulled his arm into his lap.

"What are you doing?" Phil asked curiously.

"Bandaging your arm," Dan reminded him. He wiped an antiseptic over it and apologized when Phil hissed in pain. He wrapped it in gauze hoping Phil would leave it alone.

"Can I go to sleep now Dan?"

"Do you want anything to eat first?" Phil shook his head. Dan helped him lay down and pulled the blanket up. Dan was about to leave when Phil grabbed his hand.

"Don't go," he whispered. Dan set the first aid kit on the nightstand and crawled into bed. Phil pulled the blanket over him. Dan took Phil's glasses and set them with the first aid kit. Phil curled into him, seeming to press as close as possible to Dan. As Dan wrapped an arm around him, his mind felt it was appropriate to remind him that Phil was completely naked. Dan blushed. Phil buried his head in his chest.

"Mm cold Dan," he mumbled. Of course he was. Dan leaned over and pulled another of Phil's blankets from the floor onto them. Phil snuggled impossibly closer.

"You might as well just lay on me," Dan muttered sarcastically. Phil pushed Dan onto his back and did just that.

"Now shut up," Phil murmured. Dan stared at the ceiling, the plain white ceiling. He was laying in Phil's bed with a very naked Phil laying on him. Dear God. Dan somehow managed to fall asleep, even knowing that. It was far into the next day when they woke up within seconds of the other.

"Dan?" Phil asked, his eyes wide.

"Hi. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Why are you in my bed?" he asked. Dan looked down at Phil's arm, the gauze crooked and loose from sleeping on it.

"What happened to my arm?" Dan laughed. There was someone pushing at his shoulder.

"Dan? Dan!" someone called. Dan opened his eyes. When did he close them? He was strangely warm.

"What?" he mumbled, his voice weak.

"Are you alright?" Phil asked.

"What?" Dan asked again. He wasn't paying attention. There was something scuttling across the floor.

"Dan!" Phil said loudly. Dan's eyes snapped up.

"What's going on?" Dan asked, looking around. His head was pounding. He couldn't be sure where he was.

"I'm sorry Dan. I got you sick," Phil said, brushing the hair out of Dan's eyes.

"That's not a very good excuse to see me naked," Dan said. Phil looked at him.

"What? You know what, never mind. Go back to sleep Dan," Phil said, trying not to laugh. Dan liked that idea. Sleeping sounded quite nice. So Dan layed his head back down on Phil's pillow and pulled Phil down next to him and fell asleep.


End file.
